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Luis Enrique: 'Impossible to replace Lionel Messi'

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique admits that it will be "a big challenge" for his team to cope without Lionel Messi, who suffered a serious knee injury at the weekend.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has admitted that it is "impossible" for the Catalan side to replace Lionel Messi following his long-term injury.

The Argentine suffered knee ligament damage in Saturday's La Liga clash with Las Palmas and is expected to be on the sidelines for the next six to eight weeks.

Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League Group E game against Bayer Leverkusen, Enrique spoke about the "big challenge" of learning to cope without the club's leading marksman.

"It's a big challenge to play without Messi. It's a motivation, but you can't replace ‪Messi, that's impossible," Enrique told reporters.

Luis Suarez and Neymar are now Barcelona's only two senior strikers in the first-team squad, but Sandro Ramirez and Munir El-Haddadi have both already featured this season.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona12110140112933
2Real Madrid1173121111024
3Atletico MadridAtletico126511871123
4Villarreal116322019121
5Osasuna126331716121
6Athletic Bilbao125431812619
7Real BetisBetis125431210219
8Mallorca12534109118
9Rayo Vallecano114431210216
10Celta Vigo125161820-216
11Real Sociedad124351010015
12GironaGirona124351517-215
13Sevilla124351217-515
14AlavesAlaves124171419-513
15Leganes122551216-411
16Getafe12174810-210
17Espanyol123181122-1110
18Las PalmasLas Palmas122371321-89
19Real ValladolidValladolid12228924-158
20Valencia11146817-97


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